The study of values by Allport

  The unifying philosophy of a mature person is founded upon values, that is, basic convictions about what is and is not of real importance in life. Believing that a person’s efforts to find order and meaning in life are governed by values, Allport identified and measured basic value dimensions. He helped to develop a personality test, the Study of Values. Allport’s model is based on the work of Eduard Spranger, a European psychologist.

In his book Types of Men, Spranger outlined six major value types. These values are found in varying degrees in all people. People construct the unity of their lives around them (Allport,1961). Thus, no person falls exclusively under any one value category. Rather, different value combinations are more or less salient in the lives of different people.

For Allport, these values are best described as deep level traits. They are described as:

i) The Theoretical

ii) The economic

iii) The aesthetic

iv) The social

v) The political

vi) The religious.

Allport assessed individual differences in the relative strength of these six values by means of the Study of Values scale. Developed and standardised with college students, the test consists of 45 questions and requires 20 minutes to complete. The reliability and validity data support the utility of the test. Average scores on the six values differ in the expected directions for different occupational groups, as for example, in the case of business students they score poorly on the aesthetic value, and theology students score poorly on the religious value.(Allport et al.,1960).The test reflects Allport’s belief that values are an essential part of an individual’s personality.

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